Hillbilly Elegy

• Directed by Ron Howard
• November 11, 2020 (US) / November 24, 2020 (Netflix)
• Based on the 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance

A phone call forces a Yale Law student to return to his hometown where he reflects on three generations of family history as well as his own future.

All things considered Hillbilly Elegy is a very polarizing film. At least per anecdotal experience. You either love it or hate it. Considering relatively recent events I am betting it will only become more so. I thought because of that it was worthwhile giving a look at.

I must start by saying I cannot avoid talking about Glenn Close as Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance. Physically she is barely recognizable and turns in a rather unique performance for her filmography from what I have seen her in. Calling the character rough around the edges would be kind. She is tough and hard having become pregnant at 13 (yikes!) and ran off with the baby’s father (Bo Hopkins) to whom she is still married but not living with.

To call the family a bit trashy is to be kind but not quite accurate. They would be a bit much for even Jerry Springer. Yet they are close. There’s a lot of love there, but there’s also massive amounts of dysfunction. Generationally so. If anything Hillbilly Elegy explains the background of JD Vance and how he worked to break the cycle not only with himself but with those in his family. But that goes with the theme of taking care of your own and standing by your family. The inexplicable ties that bind everyone together even if they shouldn’t.

They seem to breeze right through it, but Vance’s grandmother puts a great deal of pressure on Vance (Gabriel Basso) for the family. How? She comes right out and says she’s not going to live forever and that she assumed her daughter would be okay. Then she poses a question of who’s going to take care of the family when she’s gone? Basically she’s setting up Vance to do just that. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid but him becoming the caretaker of the family never gets too directly addressed.

As portrayed here Vance’s mother Bev (Amy Adams) is a complete train wreck. Aside from her addiction issues, she loves her children but conversely also resents them. She possesses a level of pride in who they are and what they can do but jealousy that it is not her because of them. Her actions are driven by the conflicting love and hate going on inside her. Adams is excellent conveying that. The actor playing Vance does okay, but Amy Adams is better with Glenn Close really knocking it out of the park.

If anybody gets short changed, it is now current wife Usha (Freida Pinto). In real life she was his source of support and strength but that is all she does in the film and little is developed between the two. A scene or two (some easily covered by dialogue) could have been cut with the dynamic between the two being built up. There is nothing wrong with having a character that is a cheerleader but even in life she was more than that. They could’ve gone a little more into the grandfather’s relationship with the grandmother and a little bit more of an explanation as to why Bev was so messed up. Both felt like they were presented rather than explained.

Hillbilly Elegy is neither upbeat nor downbeat. It can be most accurately described as more matter-of-fact. It’s telling what Vance went through and the background behind it. Run down houses. Places authenticity that you know it’s real life. I know it’s a bit ironic me using that description.

The story moves between the paster and the present showing how the former informs the latter. It uses one too justify or illuminate the other. And the flow is rather seamless. Ron Howard manages to keep a study and even pacing without ever breaking stride.

I think if it has any serious flaws it is that Hillbilly Elegy covers too much time. I’m not talking jumping from past to present, but rather the long arc of trying to get Bev the help she needs. It does that because of that there is multiple characters brought in which limits the amount of time that can be dedicated to Vance’s sister Lindsay (Haley Bennett) and any other member of the immediate family. The cousin helping to find a place for Bev could’ve been mentioned with a line of dialogue rather than all that. Or the discussion with the doctor could have been dealt with via the argument outside the facility.

Maybe not great but Hillbilly Elegy is a nice ode to that which makes us who we are no matter how bad it is. It’s about overcoming cycles and not getting trapped in them. It’s about the love of family even when you probably shouldn’t love them. Maybe not great drama but entertaining drama.